Plenary Speakers

Mari Nakamura
David Barker
Donna M. Brinton
Oussouby Sacko
Mari Nakamura
Sponsored by JALT for JALT Junior
Plenary Session: Collaboration Across Borders Is “Nothing?”
Sunday, Nov 3, 2:10 PM – 3:10 PM, Main Hall
The majority of young ELF learners have very little contact with the English language outside their classrooms. This unfavorable learning environment can pose recurring challenges to both learners and teachers. I will explore how collaborative intercultural understanding projects with schools in non-English speaking countries can affect learner agency and teacher efficacy using data collected through several of these projects. In addition, the talk will examine possibilities to implement such projects in diverse teaching contexts.
Additional Session: Empowering Teenagers Through Creative Projects
Saturday, Nov 2, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Rm 1101
Research suggests that Japanese teenagers’ self-esteem and motivation for English study tend to decline as they move through their schooling. In order to motivate and empower my teenage students, I have been implementing mini-projects in which students’ individuality and creative expressions are respected while encouraging peer interaction. In this practical workshop, the participants will actually try out some of these projects and examine whether such tasks can empower their own teenage students.
Mari Nakamura has 25 years’ experience in teaching young learners and teenagers at her own language school, English Square, in Kanazawa City, Japan. She has also provided numerous teacher training seminars all around Japan as an author of multiple ELT materials. She earned a master’s degree in TEYL from Aston University, and has been volunteering as a co-editor of the JALT TLT Younger Learners Column since 2015.
David Barker
Sponsored by englishbooks.jp
Plenary Session: Exploring Teacher Efficacy in Japan
Saturday, Nov 2, 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM, Main Hall
The term “teacher efficacy” refers to a teacher’s sense of competence; their belief in their ability to take the steps necessary in order to achieve a successful learning outcome for their students (Protheroe, 2008). In this session, I will explore the concept of teacher efficacy in the context of English education in Japan. I will discuss some of the barriers to the development of teacher efficacy and suggest a number of strategies for overcoming them.
Additional Session: Teacher Actions that Promote Learner Agency
Sunday, Nov 3, 5:10 PM – 6:10 PM, Rm 1102
Many teachers lament the lack of initiative and self-efficacy shown by Japanese university students in their approach to studying English. Some of those teachers simply give up, but others take steps to address the problem. In this presentation, I will discuss teacher actions that promote learner agency and increase the chance of a successful outcome in any type of class. I will also suggest some common pitfalls and actions to avoid.
David Barker is the director of the English Center at Gifu University. Originally from Wales, he became a teacher after working for two years as a police officer. He has a PhD in language education and has taught in Singapore, New Zealand, and Japan, where he has lived for 23 years. He is the founder of BTB Press and the author of a wide range of textbooks and Japanese language books for learners of English.
Donna M. Brinton
Sponsored by Soka University and JALT
Plenary Session: Learner Agency, Then and Now
Saturday, Nov 2, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, Main Hall
This session examines how, historically, the methodological pendulum has swung between two diametrically opposed positions—one promoting learner agency and the other paying it little or no heed. An examination of several methods from the past illustrates these swings in theory. The session concludes with an examination of the extent to which learner centered instruction conforms to currently-held beliefs about learner agency and how second/foreign language teaching professionals can encourage agency.
Additional Session: Reflecting on Innovations that Have Impacted ELT
Saturday, Nov 2, 3:50 PM – 4:50 PM, Rm 1102
Reflective teaching practice mandates that we evaluate our instructional experiences with the ultimate goal of becoming more effective teachers. Over time, our classroom experiences, changes in our teaching contexts, research results, and exposure to new methodologies significantly impact how we teach. In this session, the presenter reflects on ten innovations that have had the most impact her own teaching. She concludes with a discussion of predicted trends in the future of ELT.
Currently Donna M. Brinton works as an educational consultant. For over 30 years, she worked as a faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the co-author/co-editor of numerous professional texts including Content-Based Second Language Instruction, The Content-Based Classroom, New Ways in Content-Based Instruction, New Ways in ESP, Heritage Language Education: A New Field Emerging, Teaching Pronunciation, The Linguistic Structure of Modern English, and the 4th edition of Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Her most recent publication (with Marguerite Ann Snow) is Content-Based Instruction: What Every ESL Teacher Needs to Know (University of Michigan Press, 2019).
Oussouby Sacko
Sponsored by JALT
Plenary Session: Diverse Leaders in Japanese Education
Sunday, Nov 3, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Main Hall
In this plenary speech, I would like to share my experiences as a Japanese university manager with a foreign background, and to point out the necessity of collaboration between Japanese and foreign teachers to cope with the needs of more open and global education.
Additional Session: Educational Leadership with Dr. Oussouby Sacko
Sunday, Nov 3, 12:55 PM – 1:55 PM, Rm 1102
This session will be an open discussion moderated by one of JALT2019’s conference co-chairs, Catherine Littlehale Oki and Steven Herder. This format provides the opportunity to delve further into themes introduced in Dr. Sacko’s plenary while allowing participants to ask new questions around the topic of educational leadership. We invite audience members to bring questions about teaching, learning, and leading within the Japanese context.
Born in Mali in 1966, Oussouby Sacko studied in China, majoring in architecture. Residing in Japan since 1991, he earned his PhD at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Architecture, researching relationships between society and architectural space. His publications include Literacy and Culture of Knowledge (Nakanishiya Publishing, 2007). Joining Kyoto Seika University in 2001, he was promoted to Professor in 2013. On April 1, 2018, he was inaugurated as President of the University.